The Tatton park x-country course is becoming a regular and well liked course in the Manchester league series. It has a mixture of fast running, a hill, some twisty muddy sections, plus apply parking. On Saturday 10th of January it was the 4th out of 5 races in the series so teams and individuals were battling for wins and points in the Overall series. Conditions were good both the weather and underfoot and with the Northern x-country  2 weeks later there was a big turn out of quality runners getting ready for the Northern.

First race saw 126 U11 boys and girls complete a 2.5km 2 lap course. Odhran Nash has had a great first season and again finished 14th keeping him in 13th overall in the U11 boys series. The Trafford U11 boys team had their best performance so far finishing a very close 8th team on the day and keeping them in 8th overall in the series. Behind Odhran the team were covered by 15 seconds. Fast starting Harry Armer (32nd) held off Henry Bal (33rd) who came storming through. Sebastian Harding (36th) is making massive improvements and Henry Hooper-Loudon (39) was right behind the pack.

The U13 boys and girls 3.2km race held over a slightly larger 2 lap course had an even bigger turnout with155 athletes completing the course. Coral Black (17) and Betsy Widdop (47) got a bit carried away at the start in the big field but working through well Amelie Galpin (32) and Isolde Powell (53) came through well giving the team their best position so far in 9th place out of the 22 finishing teams. Overall Cora is the best place of the Trafford runners in 17th place. In the boys race Thomas Fotheringham (17) also got carried away at the start chasing the lead runners. In the later stages Thomas was looking over his shoulder as his class mate Stan Barber (15) closed in and overtook him on the slightly downhill fast sprint finish. With Emanuele Calisti (29) and Sebastian White (55) having good runs, the team finished in their highest position so far of 5th, moving the team up to 7th overall.

In the U15's race Arlo Mander-Tullius followed up his win in the Greater Manchester County Champs with a very mature run. Always in the lead group he followed any breaks to pull clear for the win in the closing stages. Oliver Davenport continued his consistent season finishing 5th and with Thomas Daly chasing much taller and older athletes finishing 10th, the team won and moved to 2nd team overall, with Arlo and Oliver 4th and 5th individually in the series. Trafford's strength in depth was again on show, this time it was Ned Farncombe (14) who showed that he is a one to watch in the future.  With only a few seconds separating the athletes Sam Ingleby-Castleton (18), Joe Thomas (21), Logan Grocott (23), Oscar Bundy (26), Daniel White (45), Charlie Congdon (48) and Joe Bowden (55) Trafford’s B team were 5th and C team 10th. In the girls race it was a close battle with May Gibbons Hughes (31) just edging out Mya Black (32) and Daisy Heap (33) to again give the team their best place of 7th this season. Mya's consistent season moved her to 22nd overall.

The U17 race over a 5.8km course saw a smaller field but high quality 60 runners. The inform Lewis Morris (West Cheshire) set a blistering pace with Pio Aron the only one following this pace. Pio closed to within 3 seconds towards the end but a couple of falls meant he dropped back still claiming a good second place. Fin Dobson Emmas did enough to win from the pack in 3rd place and secure his place in 2nd overall in the series. Tio Austin had to drop out with a severe stitch whilst in 4th place but with a strong finish from Archie Greenwood (6) the team still won and lead the series overall. Ben Gardner followed Archie through the field claiming 7th, Evan Horwell (12), Evan Lewis (16) and Zach Rose (27) meant that Trafford’s B team were 3rd and are in a close battle for 2nd place in the series. The U17 girls saw Sarah Smith as the only Trafford finisher in 9th place keeping Sarah in 8th place overall.

After some great runs in the junior races, possibly the best run of the day from a Trafford runner came from Beth Reid in the Senior Women's race. Chasing two international athletes Beth finished a close 3rd well clear of the rest of the field. With Zoe Storr (54), Louise Ambler (78), Rafaelle Ingleby-Castleton (96), Eve Southern (107), Louise Mangan (146), Ruth Beresford (194) and Sue Exon (327) the team finished 7th and are joint 3rd overall in the top division.

The longer 9.7km x-country distance didn't phase 17 year old Jay Hutchinson, after a good start in 20th place he moved through the field to finish 10th place in a quality field. Sam Jackson was close behind in 16th and with Jordi Evans-Rodriguez (30), Will Parker (36), Michael Melarkey (50) and Jeff Prest (92) the team had their best finishing position in 4th place and that consolidated the teams overall position (6th) in the top division. The B team was led by Alfie Bundy (104) with the U20 currently in 3rd place overall in the league. Close behind Alfie was fellow U20 runners Dan Partington (111) and after 3 years out through injury, Matt Gardner (178) made a great return. John Howe (199), George Wright (208) and Ceri Basi (223) finished off the Trafford B team from the 456 finishers.